Bezjak clutch in Lady Colonials’ 4-3 win
Jonathan Guth | Herald-Standard
Albert Gallatin’s Ally Bezjak bats in the first inning of Tuesday’s WPIAL Class AAAAA third-place game against Connellsville at Seton Hill University. Bezjak hit a two-run home run in the fourth inning and drove in the winning run with a single in the eighth to help the Lady Colonials to a 4-3 victory and a berth in the state tournament.
Albert Gallatin's Maddie Flowers delivers a pitch during the first inning of Tuesday's WPIAL Class AAAAA third-place consolation game against Connellsville at Seton Hill University.
Connellsville's Mia Burd pitches during the first inning of Tuesday's WPIAL Class AAAAA third-place consolation game against Albert Gallatin at Seton Hill University.
Connellsville's Kylee Yothers makes a catch at first base for the out in the Lady Falcons' WPIAL Class AAAAA third-place consolation game against Albert Gallatin on Tuesday at Seton Hill University.
GREENSBURG — Ally Bezjak didn’t want her high school softball career to end.
The Saint Francis University recruit and Albert Gallatin senior hit a two-run home run and had the game-winning hit in the bottom of the eighth to lead the Lady Colonials to a 4-3 victory over Connellsville on Tuesday in the WPIAL Class AAAAA third-place consolation game at Seton Hill University.
AG plays DuBois in the first round of the PIAA Class AAAAA playoffs on Monday. The time and venue have yet to be determined, but head coach Gary Serock is glad to be moving on to the state playoffs for the second straight season.
“I don’t know much about DuBois, but I will do my homework and we will be ready to go,” Serock said. “We are prepared this year if we have a long trip. We have raised a lot of money, and if we need to stay the night somewhere, we will. We want our girls to be rested and ready to go.
“That (Connellsville) is a great team and I have a lot of respect for them. Coach John Burd is one of my best friends and his daughter is one of the best pitchers in the WPIAL.”
Albert Gallatin (13-4) fell behind 3-0 in the top of the fourth, but Bezjak’s two-run shot in the bottom of the inning cut the Lady Colonials’ deficit to 3-2. AG tied the game with a run in the fifth.
“It was a little inside and down the middle in that range and I took advantage of a mistake,” said of the pitch she hit for the home run. “Mia (Burd) is a great pitcher and one of the best in the WPIAL.
“It was really tough to take the loss in the WPIAL semifinals because we beat Thomas Jefferson twice in the regular season, but we came out today and got the win. We want to keep it going.”
The Lady Falcons (13-8) had runners on first and second with nobody out in the top of the eighth after Kylee Yothers singled to right field and Abby King reached on a fielding error, but Albert Gallatin’s Madison Hershberger induced a fly out to short left field and Annalia Paoli snagged a line-out to double the Lady Falcons off at second base to get out of the jam.
Paoli is known for her offensive prowess, but made the defensive play of the game.
“She (Paoli) made a clutch play,” Serock said. “She had a quiet day at the plate, but made up for it with that play. We don’t focus on one player. This was a total team effort.”
Maddie Flowers, who started the game on the mound for the Lady Colonials, tripled to lead off the bottom of the eighth before scoring on Bezjak’s base hit up the middle.
“We knew that we had the offense to come back,” Flowers said. “I knew that I had to put my team in position to get the winning run. I was so happy.
“We knew coming into this that it wasn’t going to be easy. Connellsville is such a good team. It made me so happy to come home because I have been playing with these seniors so long, and I didn’t want it to end. I want to play with them as long as I can.”
Bezjak didn’t know if she would be intentionally walked, but was glad to get the opportunity to make a difference.
“There is some pressure there, but you just have to stay calm and keep the mindset to get a little hit and get the runner in for the winning run,” Bezjak said. “I just wanted to get Maddie in as fast as I could. I wanted to take advantage of the closest pitch I thought I was going to see.
“If I wasn’t going to make the hit, Annalia (Paoli) would, or whoever was after her would. I knew my teammates would get the job done. I had a feeling we would come back.”
Coach Burd thought about walking Bezjak, but decided to go after her.
“I really did think about walking her because it put a lot of pressure on Mia (Burd) because she had walked some people, but give them credit, they put the bat on the ball,” Burd said.
Serock was confident his team would fight back despite falling behind early.
“These girls don’t want it to end,” Serock said. “We don’t want it to end until we get a championship. We had a tough loss in the semifinals, but I told the girls about Mount Pleasant losing in the semifinals last year and winning the state title. Yough did the same thing, and that is what I want them to look forward to. When Ally (Bezjak) hit the home run, that gave us our spark and fueled the fire. We needed that lift and Ally came through.”
Connellsville scored in the first when Burd singled to third base, advanced to second and third on wild pitches, and scored on Garrity Bungard’s sacrifice bunt.
The Lady Falcons added two more runs in the fourth when Josey Moorhead walked and Yothers reached on an error when she attempted to bunt to put runners at first and third with nobody out.
Yothers stole second and Moorhead scored on King’s groundout to shortstop for a 2-0 advantage. Yothers advanced to third on King’s grounder and scored on a wild pitch.
“We knew that Albert Gallatin was a good team and would come back,” coach Burd said. “We both made some plays, but they just made one more than us.”
Hershberger didn’t allow a run on four hits in four innings. She had two strikeouts and didn’t walk a batter in earning the win. Flowers yielded three runs (two earned) on two hits in four innings. She had two strikeouts and walked two.
“Our two-pitcher system really worked for us today, especially in this weather,” Serock said.
Burd surrendered four runs (three earned) on seven hits in seven to take the loss. She had two strikeouts and walked three.
“These girls are a great group that battled all year long,” coach Burd said. “I couldn’t be more proud of them. It hurts me to end being with these girls because I do love them, and they are a great group.”
Flowers and Bezjak had two hits, and Burd had two singles.